• Citizenship revoked: Key US ally Bahrain strips dissenters of their nationality

    Hasan Jamali / AP file

    Bahrain riot police watch as a protester holds up a picture of jailed political leader Hassan Mushaima with the words "Mushaima is in danger," during a protest in Duraz, Bahrain, on Friday. Mushaima's son is on the list of people whose citizenship has been revoked.

    By Ian Johnston, NBC News

    Bahrain’s government said Wednesday that it had revoked the citizenship of 31 Bahrainis, described by human rights activists as mostly former political detainees.

    Two human rights groups, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, issued a joint statement expressing their “grave concern over the systematic targeting of prominent political activists, former members of parliament, clerics and others.”

    They called on the United States, U.K., United Nations and others to put pressure on the Bahraini authorities to reverse the decision and allow freedom of expression, and also to “immediately stop the systematic and widespread human-rights violations.”

    'Damage to state security'
    Bahrain, a small island kingdom, is an important ally of the United States as it is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. There has been significant unrest since pro-democracy protests erupted last year as the Arab Spring movement swept the region.

    The Bahrain News Agency published a brief statement by the Ministry of Interior that cited a law allowing “the re-evaluation of nationality when a holder of the Bahraini citizenship causes damage to state security.”

    It then listed names of 31 people whose citizenship had been revoked, including Ali Hassan Mushaima, the son of the leader of the Haq movement, Hassan Mushaima, who is serving a life sentence.

    “The Minister of Interior will take the necessary measures to implement this in conformity with the kingdom's commitments under international law,” the statement added, saying the people named would be able to appeal.

    Bahrain to citizens living abroad: Spy on countrymen, no protests permitted

    The human rights groups’ statement said the authorities had not provided “substantial evidence” explaining the decisions.

    “It is apparent that the actions taken by the Bahraini authorities to revoke the citizenships of 31 individuals is intended to punish them for expressing peaceful dissent and thereby intimidate others from exercising their right to freedom of expression,” it said. “This comes at a time when the crackdown in Bahrain by the authorities is intensifying, and in light of continued international inaction, will continue to deteriorate.”

    Saudi Arabia-Bahrain union plan set to inflame tensions with Iran?

    Mohammed al-Maskati, president of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, told NBC News that about 70 percent of the people on the list were former political detainees.

    Some on the list are living abroad with at least eight in the U.K., and others in Iran, Iraq, Sweden and Australia. Some of those have been granted political asylum by other countries, al-Maskati said.

    Security forces fire tear gas as they crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators who have vowed to disrupt the race. Bahrain's monarchy is desperate to show the world that the country is a safe place for the race.

    Grand Prix races on as streets in Bahrain morph into battle zone

    For those living in Bahrain, al-Maskati said the effects of withdrawal of citizenship would likely be serious.

    He said they would not be able to access education, private or public health care, or receive government benefits. He added that this would also apply to the men’s wives and children.

    “If you don’t have a passport, you don’t have a national ID; if you don’t have a national ID, you cannot do anything in Bahrain,” al-Maskati said.

    Bahrain breaks up anniversary protest, deports US activists

    He said it remained to be seen what the legal status of the men would be.

    “We don’t know what action they will take against them, if they will ask them to leave the country or they will let them … take their case to the courts. We don’t know what legal status they will find themselves in now.”


    However, he noted that the official statement said that the people concerned would be able to appeal.

    Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that “everyone has the right to a nationality,” and “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.”

    In a separate statement, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights said it was concern at reports that a detainee, Adnan Al-Mansi, 22, had been subjected to “severe physical torture, including sexual assaults” after his arrest.

    The center said al-Mansi had been accused of making a bomb, but it said he was “a prisoner of conscience detained solely on the basis of his political opinion.”

    NBC News requested a comment from the Bahrain Embassy in the U.K., but a response was not immediately received.

    More world stories from NBC News:

    Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • Russia charges anti-Putin protester Alexei Navalny in latest crackdown on dissent

    Mikhail Voskresensky / Reuters

    Prominent anti-corruption blogger and opposition figure Alexei Navalny leaves the Investigative Committee in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday.

    By Reuters

    MOSCOW -- Russian investigators charged street protest leader Alexei Navalny with theft Tuesday and banned him from leaving the country, threatening a heavy jail term in what supporters say is a growing crackdown on dissent by President Vladimir Putin.

    Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger who has organized demonstrations that have dented Putin's authority, dismissed the charge as absurd and other opposition leaders accused Putin of using KGB-style tactics to try to silence his critics.

    Other moves which the opposition depict as a crackdown on dissent since Putin began a six-year term in May include a law increasing fines for protesters, closer controls of the Internet and tighter rules for foreign-funded campaign and lobby groups.


    Russia's federal Investigative Committee said in a statement that Navalny, 36, had been charged over the theft of timber from a state firm while he was advising a regional governor in 2009, and he could face a 10-year sentence.

    "I have been charged and ordered not to leave," Navalny said after emerging from the Investigative Committee headquarters, where he had been summoned for the presentation of what he had expected would be a less severe charge.

    Rock Center Correspondent Harry Smith journeyed to Moscow where he met blogger Alexei Navalny, a vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin and his party United Russia, ahead of the Russian presidential elections. Navalny galvanized protesters through social media and uses his website to expose alleged political corruption.

    "This is really quite absurd and very strange because they have completely changed the essence of the accusation, compared to what it was before," Navalny, who had been questioned repeatedly since the case was opened in 2010, told reporters.

    He made clear he would not be silenced. "I will continue to do what I have been doing, and in this sense nothing changes for me," said Navalny, who is also a lawyer. "We believe that what is happening now is illegal. We will use the methods of legal defense at our disposal. What else can we do?"

    From March 2012: Anti-Putin activists pay high price, but refuse to back down

    Leading voice of dissent
    Navalny is one of the few people seen as capable of emerging as a viable leader of the fractious opposition, although critics say he has nationalist tendencies.

    He gained prominence by fighting corruption at state-controlled companies and used the Internet to do so, appealing to a tech-savvy generation of urban Russians who have turned away from the mainstream media.

    Before parliamentary elections last December he helped to energize a struggling opposition, popularizing a phrase referring to the ruling United Russia party, then headed by Putin, as the "party of swindlers and thieves."

    'Serious problems' with vote that kept Putin in power, monitors say

    He was also among the leaders of large protests prompted by allegations of fraud in the election on behalf of United Russia, which saw its big majority in parliament cut to a handful of seats despite the accusations that it had cheated.

    'Mortal fear'
    "This case has been fabricated from beginning to end," said Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister who is a prominent Putin opponent. "The true reason for what is happening is Putin's mortal fear of losing power. ... He is wildly afraid of the opposition, including Navalny."

    More Europe coverage from NBCNews.com

    In a reference to the Cheka secret police, a precursor of the Soviet KGB, Nemtsov said: "Putin is using traditional Chekist methods. ... Fabricated cases, charges, arrests, jail."

    Putin won a presidential election on March 4 despite the largest protests since the start of his 12-year rule, during which he has served as president for eight years and as prime minister for four. At times attendance at the rallies reached more than 100,000, witnesses said, although they have become less frequent since Putin returned to power.

    But opponents say a series of steps he has taken in recent months to tighten control show the former KGB agent is worried about losing his grip on the world's largest country.

    Punk rockers go on trial over anti-Putin church protest

    Tough censorship law
    Putin, who has repeatedly warned against rocking the boat in speeches since his election, signed a law on Monday toughening punishment for defamation and another on Tuesday that opponents say could be used to censor the Internet.

    More Russia coverage from NBCNews.com

    In a case which critics say will indicate how he plans to treat opponents during his new term, three women from the punk band "Pussy Riot" went on trial Monday over an unsanctioned protest performance at the altar of Russia's main cathedral, where they called on the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out!"

    Three female punk rockers are put on trial in Russia after taking over the pulpit at an Orthodox cathedral and performing a controversial song criticizing President Putin. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

    Their trial entered its second day Tuesday in a Moscow court, and they face up to seven years in jail over a protest they say was aimed against the close relationship between Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church.

    Navalny had been detained and served brief terms in custody several times over administrative offenses linked to the protests, but had never been charged with a more serious crime.

    Complete international coverage on NBCNews.com

    Lawyers for Navalny had said Friday they expected he would be charged over the case in Kirov province. But they had expected him to face a different charge punishable by up to five years in jail, rather than 10.

    The Investigative Committee said more than 10,000 cubic meters of timber were stolen as the result of a plot between Navalny and two company chiefs, causing the regional government to lose more than 16 million roubles ($497,000).

    More world stories from NBC News:

    News on NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.